KUALA LUMPUR, May 2 — Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has dismissed a news report claiming the government would reintroduce the movement control order (MCO) next week in several states with rising Covid-19 cases.

He said the speculation was false as the National Security Council has yet to meet since Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s remark on the government’s need to review the current MCO.

"There has not even been a meeting yet,” he was quoted as saying by online news portal The Vibes.

His denial was in response to a local English daily that quoted sources as saying a two-week MCO dubbed "MCO 3.0” would be reimposed in Selangor, KL, Penang, Johor and Sarawak beginning May 3.

Earlier today, the number of daily Covid-19 infections across the country was at 3,418 new cases yesterday.

As the prospect of a lockdown looms, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah also said the intensive care unit in all major hospitals in the Klang Valley were almost overwhelmed by severe Covid-19 cases with the occupancy rate reaching 90 per cent as of today.

Malaysia is facing what some experts believe to be a "fourth wave” of the pandemic, with the recent number of daily cases nearly reaching the 4,000 mark and for the MCO to be reimposed to curb further infections.